Labels

Wednesday, April 6, 2016

Anthrax's Scott Ian about AC/DC: "I think they should just stop"

Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian was recently interviewed by R7, you can read some excerpts below.
About his opinion on reports that Axl Rose might end up fronting AC/DC for band's upcoming concerts, Ian said: "I don't think anything. I guess I'll hear it at some point, and then I can make my opinion. I guess I could kind of imagine in my brain, but I don't even know what Axl sounds like now. I haven't heard Axl Rose sing in a long, long time. So, can he sing AC/DC songs? I don't know. I suppose AC/DC must think so, if it's true. So I'm sure I'll get to hear it soon enough on the Internet somewhere and then I guess I'll have an opinion on it."

He continued: "I wish they would get Angry Anderson, the guy who was in Rose Tattoo. I don't know if Angry Anderson is still even singing anymore. But I always thought, in 1980, he was the guy. I didn't know who Brian Johnson was yet, but I knew Angry Anderson in 1980, and when Bon Scott died, I was hoping Angry Anderson was gonna join AC/DC, 'cause he was from Australia and he sounded like a guy who should be in AC/DC. But then Brian came and Brian was great. So who knows?"

Ian added: "My personal opinion is, without Brian at this point, I think they should just stop. Why? Why? You're AC/DC. I don't think they need the money. It would be pretty hard to imagine that they still are out there working because they need money. But who am I to say? It's just my opinion. But I wish… If Brian is done, then I wish the band would stop. That's just my personal, shitty opinion."

About the retirement of AC/DC's founding guitarist Malcolm Young, who is suffering from dementia, he said: "It's very depressing. It's certainly worse for… Look, I'm just a fan. It's different for Malcolm personally and for his family and his friends. Obviously, it's a terrible, terrible situation. I'm just a fan of his, so it makes me sad that someone that has meant so much to me is sick. I just hope that he's in peace, that he doesn't have pain."

He continued: "Anytime your heroes are not doing what they do anymore, it sucks. But I understand it, too, at the same time. I don't wanna see my favorite band trying to be on stage when they're eighty years old and not being able to perform anymore. It was hard to watch Motorhead's Lemmy at the end. We played a whole bunch of shows with Motorhead in September of last year in the States, and then we did the Motörboat cruise with them again. And it was great to see them, but at the same time, you can't help but think, 'Lemmy really… he shouldn't be on stage anymore. He's having a hard time.' But you can't argue. 'Cause Lemmy wanted to be there. No one was forcing him to play shows. He wanted to be on stage; that was his life. But as a fan, you know, you just can't help but think, 'Goddamn, he should just go home and play the fucking slot machines and just relax for a few years now. He's worked hard enough.' But that's what he loved to do, so you can't argue with that."

Ian added: "But, yeah, I don't ever wanna see my heroes slow down, but it's just a fact of life; that's what's gonna happen. It's gonna happen to me. At some point, I'm not gonna be able to bang my head and jump around on stage the way I do now. But Angus is still doing it, and he's maybe ten years older than me or something, so it means I have at least ten more years. [Laughs]"